I had sort of a unique perspective around the debate, so I thought people might be interested in what it was like. I showed up three and a half hours before the debate started to volunteer. It was supposed to be four hours, but security was ridiculous. Roads were closed all around campus. Dump trucks, cop cars, and riot police blocked roads and alleys within a certain radius of the debate location. All the buildings on campus were locked as of 3:30 today. The west end of campus (where the debate was held) was like a concentration camp. It reminded me of the movie ?The Siege? with all the fences, guard dogs, and security forces. You had to have a student ID just to get on campus, and you would show it to at least three layers of security before you could get to any buildings. Large sections of the campus grounds were partitioned off so no one could walk through, and there was only one way into the complex. Two huge stages were set up outside on campus (maybe more, but I only saw the two) ? MSNBC and CNN. I saw Chris Matthews and Wolf Blitzer doing their thing, while being surrounded by giant signs of Kerry-Edwards supporters (as anyone who was watching on TV undoubtedly saw). Yeah, the students here are leaning slightly to the left. 
Once I got near the debate hall (the athletic center), I had show my security credentials at all times. They were inspected carefully a few times at different points. I had to follow a long, winding path through chain link fences, then through metal detectors and x-ray machines, just like at an airport (only without the lines). There were literally hundreds of news vans and trucks in the parking lots around the buildings (I actually can?t get any channels on my TV, I?m guessing because of all the interference). Once inside, there was another security checkpoint. I got assigned to distribute Anheuser-Busch paraphernalia to the ?Kerry Press Room,? which is a huge gym (4 basketball courts) just lined with rows and columns of tables. Every third row had a TV for each column. I believe there were 3 columns, 18 rows of tables ? I worked it out to seating for about 720 journalists. The whole room was outlined with little interview booths, and two corners were room-sized areas, one for sound control and routing, the other for big interviews. The first person I saw was Alan Colmes, who looks even more squirrelly in real life. After I got done, I went back out to the main area and saw Greta Van Susteren (who is tiny ? ballsy for someone that?s about 5?4? to interview Mike Tyson). I took a peek into the debate hall (usually the basketball stadium) and saw John Edwards being interviewed a ways off. I wasn?t allowed to actually go into the stadium, since the Secret Service was doing a last sweep before they started admitting ticket holders. Oh, and I got a really sweet Anheuser-Busch mug that they made just for the election. You?ll note that the hospitality tent was provided by them, and that the CPD?s logo looks very much like theirs, though they weren?t mentioned as a sponsor. Not sure what the deal is there.
I had the choice to stay in the debate hall and watch the debate in the Kerry Press Room, but I decided to go watch it in the Campus Grand Chapel instead, as I wanted to see the student reaction to the debates. I was not disappointed. I?d guess that the chapel holds probably 700-800 people, and it was packed. It was very obvious who most of the crowd was rooting for, and it was equally obvious that both sides cheered loudly for the points their candidates made. Only one person was disruptive, and of course she was in the seat directly behind me. She started screaming when Bush said something about Arafat. Her friends shut her up pretty quickly though. I was quite disappointed that the statements that got the greatest reaction were those based on misleading information from both candidates, which indicates to me that either the supporters are just trying to yell loudly to avoid debate or they really believe the misleading information. Sad in either case.
Walking back, I passed the MSNBC and CNN stages again and noticed that there were literally hundreds of Kerry-Edwards signs tossed on the ground. What happened to environmentalism?
All in all, a very interesting experience. I decided that I wasn?t really in a position to say who won the debate, as it?s obvious that the environment I observed it from would undoubtedly bias my opinion. Hopefully someone finds this interesting enough to read.
Oh, wanted to add also that we had a closed-circuit TV feed, so we saw quite a few camera angles that likely didn't make it on TV. Many of them had everybody in the place cracking up.
Once I got near the debate hall (the athletic center), I had show my security credentials at all times. They were inspected carefully a few times at different points. I had to follow a long, winding path through chain link fences, then through metal detectors and x-ray machines, just like at an airport (only without the lines). There were literally hundreds of news vans and trucks in the parking lots around the buildings (I actually can?t get any channels on my TV, I?m guessing because of all the interference). Once inside, there was another security checkpoint. I got assigned to distribute Anheuser-Busch paraphernalia to the ?Kerry Press Room,? which is a huge gym (4 basketball courts) just lined with rows and columns of tables. Every third row had a TV for each column. I believe there were 3 columns, 18 rows of tables ? I worked it out to seating for about 720 journalists. The whole room was outlined with little interview booths, and two corners were room-sized areas, one for sound control and routing, the other for big interviews. The first person I saw was Alan Colmes, who looks even more squirrelly in real life.
After I got done, I went back out to the main area and saw Greta Van Susteren (who is tiny ? ballsy for someone that?s about 5?4? to interview Mike Tyson). I took a peek into the debate hall (usually the basketball stadium) and saw John Edwards being interviewed a ways off. I wasn?t allowed to actually go into the stadium, since the Secret Service was doing a last sweep before they started admitting ticket holders. Oh, and I got a really sweet Anheuser-Busch mug that they made just for the election. You?ll note that the hospitality tent was provided by them, and that the CPD?s logo looks very much like theirs, though they weren?t mentioned as a sponsor. Not sure what the deal is there.I had the choice to stay in the debate hall and watch the debate in the Kerry Press Room, but I decided to go watch it in the Campus Grand Chapel instead, as I wanted to see the student reaction to the debates. I was not disappointed. I?d guess that the chapel holds probably 700-800 people, and it was packed. It was very obvious who most of the crowd was rooting for, and it was equally obvious that both sides cheered loudly for the points their candidates made. Only one person was disruptive, and of course she was in the seat directly behind me. She started screaming when Bush said something about Arafat. Her friends shut her up pretty quickly though.
I was quite disappointed that the statements that got the greatest reaction were those based on misleading information from both candidates, which indicates to me that either the supporters are just trying to yell loudly to avoid debate or they really believe the misleading information. Sad in either case.Walking back, I passed the MSNBC and CNN stages again and noticed that there were literally hundreds of Kerry-Edwards signs tossed on the ground. What happened to environmentalism?
All in all, a very interesting experience. I decided that I wasn?t really in a position to say who won the debate, as it?s obvious that the environment I observed it from would undoubtedly bias my opinion. Hopefully someone finds this interesting enough to read.
Oh, wanted to add also that we had a closed-circuit TV feed, so we saw quite a few camera angles that likely didn't make it on TV. Many of them had everybody in the place cracking up.
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